The debate surrounding testing and accountability in early childhood education continues, but one thing is universally agreed upon: effective observation and assessment of young children's learning are critical to supporting their development. Educators balance what they know about child development with observation and assessment approaches that both inform and improve the curriculum. This foundational resource for all educators of children from birth through third grade explores What observation and assessment are, why to use them, and how Ways to integrate documentation, observation, and assessment into the daily routine Practices that are culturally and linguistically responsive Ways to engage families in observation and assessment processes How to effectively share children's learning with families, administrators, and others Find inspiration to intentionally develop and implement meaningful, developmentally appropriate observation and assessment practices to build responsive, joyful classrooms.

Formative assessment has recently become a focus of renewed research as state and federal policy-makers realize that summative assessments have reached a point of diminishing returns as a tool for increasing student achievement. Consequently, supporters of large-scale testing programs are now beginning to consider the potential of formative assessments to improve student achievement. The mission of this handbook is to comprehensively profile this burgeoning field of study. Written by leading international scholars and practitioners, each chapter includes a discussion of key issues that dominate formative assessment policy and practice today, as well as those that are likely to affect research and practice in the coming years. Key features include: Comprehensive – nineteen chapters cover all aspects of formative assessment including classroom assessment, large-scale applications, technological applications, applications for special needs students, K-12 and post-secondary applications, psychometric considerations, case studies, and discussion of alternative assessment formats such as portfolios and performance assessments. Integrative – thoughtful attention is given to the integration of large-scale and classroom assessments. Practical – provides practical guidance on how to conduct formative assessments that generate credible information to guide instruction. Global – provides perspectives from leading international scholars and practitioners whose expertise spans diverse settings, student populations, and educational systems. Accessible Style – although grounded in the latest research, the book’s style and tone has been carefully crafted to make it accessible to both the textbook and professional markets. It will also be a critical reference book for researchers in teacher preparation, educational administration, and educational policy studies.

Educators require constructive information that details their students’ comprehension and can help them to advance the learners' education. Accurate evaluation of students at all educational levels and the implementation of comprehensive assessment strategies are essential for ensuring student equality and academic success. The Handbook of Research on Formative Assessment in Pre-K Through Elementary Classrooms is an essential research publication that addresses gaps in the understanding of formative assessment and offers educators meaningful and comprehensive examples of formative assessment in the Pre-K through elementary grade levels. Covering an array of topics such as literacy, professional development, and educational technologies, this book is relevant for instructors, administrators, education professionals, educational policymakers, pre-service teachers, academicians, researchers, and students.

* How do teachers assess the ordinary classroom work of young children? * How do pupils understand and respond to that assessment - does it help or hinder their development? * How can classroom assessment be developed to be more effective in assisting the learning process? This book brings together various perspectives from the fields of assessment policy development, theories of learning and the sociology of the classroom. The book explores how the assessment of young children is carried out in classrooms and with what consequences for their understanding of schooling and the development of their learning in particular subject areas. The book is based on extensive video and audio tape recordings of classroom assessment 'incidents' along with interviews of teachers and pupils about the process of assessment.

Testing expert W. James Popham cuts through the jargon and the hype to provide the definitive nuts-and-bolts introduction to formative assessment, a process with the power to completely transform teaching and learning. In his inimitable style, Popham explains the research supporting formative assessment's effectiveness and why familiarity with this research is the key to preserving both teacher sanity and district funds. You'll find step-by-step guidance on how to build frameworks for formative assessment and how to carry out each of the process's four levels: teachers' instructional adjustments, students' learning tactic adjustments, a classroom climate shift, and schoolwide implementation. This book is the place to start for educators considering formative assessment, curious about why their school system is embracing formative assessment, or wondering why the "formative assessments" they're using now aren't producing the desired results. Here, you'll learn what formative assessment is and isn't, what it can do and what it can't, and the practical way to reap its very real rewards: better teaching and better learning.

Prior reviews of evidence for the impact of formative assessment on student achievement suggest widely different estimates of formative assessment's effectiveness, ranging from 0.40 and 0.70 standard deviations in one review. The purpose of this study is to describe variability in the effectiveness of formative assessment for promoting student achievement by refining, updating and applying Black and Wiliam's (1998a) original typology of formative assessment interventions and including only those studies that meet rigorous evidence standards for supporting causal inferences. The systematic evidence review focuses on the effectiveness of formative assessment for improving the academic achievement of students in grades 1-6, including both regular education students and students with learning disabilities, emotional disturbance, and/or intellectual disabilities. Although findings from the study are currently under review, the process of preparing for and responding to reviews of the report posed several challenges and opportunities to consider possible solutions regarding communicating the value of a more precise estimate of formative assessment's effectiveness to practitioners and policy-makers. In conclusion, the formative assessment evidence review provides an opportunity to examine evidence that ordinarily is interpreted as strongly supporting the view that formative assessment is effective for improving student achievement. By extending conceptual frameworks for categorizing types of formative assessments presented in prior reviews and adopting rigorous standards to assess whether studies support causal inferences, this evidence review allows practitioners and researchers to examine relationships between effectiveness and both malleable and non-malleable factors. Figures are appended. [SREE documents are structured abstracts of SREE conference symposium, panel, and paper or poster submissions.].